SCHOOL run killer Steven Branscombe looked like “a boxer going into the ring” when he knifed a Wirral dad-of-four to death, a court was told.

Jurors heard five shocking eyewitness accounts over the killing of Bebington chef Marc Clarke in the town’s busy high street, where parents were picking up kids from two nearby schools.

Witnesses told how they heard a loud bang as Branscombe, 42, drove his Peugeot into Mr Clarke’s Mercedes before getting out and attacking him on Teehay Lane on Friday, January 27.

Shopkeeper Robert Fitzpatrick was among many who watched the incident.

Giving evidence at Liverpool Crown Court Mr Fitzpatrick described Branscombe as appearing “very angry” when he got out of his car, leaving two children behind.

He said: “His eyes were fixed and he was looking at Mr Clarke the entire time.

“I though to myself ‘that man’s a nutter’. Who does that in the middle of the high street on a Friday afternoon? I though he must have been a nutter.”

The court heard how Mr Fitzpatrick had told police in the wake of the attack: “He reminded me of a boxer going into the ring. He had colour in his cheeks as if the adrenaline was pumping in his body.”

Branscombe, of Boswell Street, Birkenhead, denies murder but admits manslaughter claiming he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder owing to a 10-year drug row with Mr Clarke, of Portia Avenue, and “lost control”.

The court heard how many onlookers thought Mr Clarke had initially been punched. It was only when the victim slumped back into his car that it became apparent that he had been stabbed twice.

Mr Fitzpatrick sobbed as he described how he battled to keep Mr Clarke conscious.

He said: “He was very drowsy and he was going very pale. I tried talking to him to keep him awake. I asked him what his name was and he told me ‘Marc’. He told me the name of [Branscombe]. All I was concentrating on was his own welfare, to keep him awake, but he was getting drowsy.

He added: “I felt for a pulse but I couldn’t feel one anymore.”

Hairdresser Gemma Ault told how Branscombe stared at her after she and others shouted at him to leave Mr Clarke alone.

She said: “He looked blank. He really didn’t have an expression on his face.”

Branscombe claims he lost control “for a split-second” and that he carried a knife in his car to protect himself after alleged threats from Mr Clarke.